Strengthening the French nation
The Assemblée Nationale votes to nationalise ArcelorMittal, S&P Global maintains French A+ rating, and Emmanuel Macron announces a voluntary national service
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This week
🏭Assemblée votes to nationalise ArcelorMittal
💶S&P maintains French A+ rating
🪖Macron announces voluntary national service
🏭Assemblée votes to nationalise ArcelorMittal
Let’s kick the week off with some legislative news:
This Thursday, the Assemblée Nationale voted through a legislative bill, proposed by La France Insoumise (LFI), to nationalise ArcelorMittal France and bring the steel manufacturer under state control.
The justification for this is bound up in the uncertainty surrounding the French steel industry, with the far left viewing nationalisation as the only solution to save the sector and its 15,000 jobs, while the left-wing Parti Socialiste calls for trusteeship.
Comment below on what you think the difference is.
However, the story behind this vote was very messy: the governing Centrist coalition opposed the move, arguing that the real battle to save the industry was at the European level and claiming to have secured emergency brakes on foreign imports of steel to prevent steel dumping. This measure is intended to come into effect from 2026.
On the other hand, you have the far right Rassemblement National abstaining from the vote because it offered false hopes to French workers, and instead calling for the French government to own a majority of the shares to have a veto over strategic decisions.
The legislative bill passed 127 to 41, meaning that only 29% of deputies voted during the process, showing a surprising lack of engagement on the topic, in no small part because not many people expect it to go anywhere.
With the bill now going to the right-wing Senate, several deputies have outright said it will simply not go anywhere and will not be applied, especially given the clear lack of majority in the Assemblée Nationale.
And more interestingly, the former campaign director for Marine Le Pen and deputy President of the RN Group in the Assemblée Jean-Philippe Tanguy (RN), the nationalisation of ArcelorMittal won’t even be a serious consideration before the 2027 presidential elections.
Which could be a sign of what the Rassemblement National has begun preparing for Jordan Bardella’s presidential campaign.
💶S&P maintains French A+ rating
Sticking with the French economy, S&P Global Ratings has confirmed its decision from a month ago, when it downgraded the French economy’s solvency to A+ on 17 October.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure took “note of [S&P’s] decision to maintain the French rating at A+ and the stable outlook,” with many having worried that the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the French budget could have led to a further degradation of the French rating.
With S&P Global having now downgraded the French rating twice in a year and a half due to ongoing political instability caused by the 2024 legislative elections, and the knock-on effects on the French economy and deficit.
This means that the French economy is currently sitting at the same rating as Spain and Portugal, whose ratings have been upgraded recently.
🪖Macron announces voluntary national service
This week saw French President Emmanuel Macron visit the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade in Varces, taking part in a military ceremony before giving a speech in which he announced a future reinforcement of the French military.
While you’ll need to wait for an article this week for full details on this service and its potential impact on the French military, Emmanuel Macron announced that there will be a new voluntary military service for young men and women aged 18 to 25.
While a major part of this is to fulfil the military’s manpower and skill needs, it’s also intended to provide training for young French citizens, strengthen the pact between France and its citizenry, and, most importantly, strengthen the French capacity for resistance in the face of war.
But if you want to read more about this, you’ll need to make sure you’re subscribed so you can receive analysis on this later this coming week.
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